Eighteen
by misslmosley
Summary: Tyler's Ascension is not what anyone expected - Implied slash: Caleb/Pogue, Reid/Tyler


"Come on, Baby Boy," Pogue teased, "Almost time for you to join the rest of us Ascended."

Tyler dragged his gaze from the empty pasture where they stood and looked at Pogue. He felt a mix of excitement and terror. "Yeah... yeah." He tensed when he felt a hand clap onto his shoulder.

"Nervous?" Caleb asked, grinning. "It's not so bad. Don't worry so much. It's strange. Strange and good. You'll be fine," he soothed the youngest boy. Caleb pulled his black wool coat tighter around his body, fighting the chill in the air.

"Where's Reid, Caleb?" Pogue murmured, approaching Caleb and Tyler.

"Not here yet," Caleb replied.

The look on Tyler's face was pained. He didn't want to Ascend without all of his brothers present. "How long do I have?"

"Six minutes. He'll be here," Caleb murmured, gently kneading Tyler's shoulder. "Don't worry."

Pogue pulled Caleb aside and began to quietly murmur in his ear. Tyler stayed, frozen, waiting for Reid to arrive. He wanted his best friend by his side now more than ever.

"He swore he was coming… right?" Pogue asked Caleb.

"You know he wouldn't miss this for anything," Caleb said, "We're talking about Tyler. Reid will show."

As the minutes drew closer and closer to Tyler's Ascent, Tyler began to panic. His whole body ached, and he wanted to cry. He thought back to the others Ascensions and tried to remember how they reacted. Caleb's, of course, no one but Chase had seen, and Chase was long-gone. When Pogue hit eighteen, the Power filled him. Pogue had described it as "fantastic" and told Reid and Tyler that it felt good. Like something had been missing, and that the missing piece finally came to Pogue. Late one night in their dorm room, Reid had quietly admitted to Tyler that the Ascent hurt a little, but that Tyler would be fine when the time came. Caleb rarely spoke of his Ascent. He only told Tyler that it wasn't something he could stop, and not to worry about it.

All the same, Tyler wanted Reid there, and it was getting closer and closer to 3:58 AM, the time when Tyler would finally turn eighteen. Tyler's arms were wrapped around his stomach, which was progressively hurting as each second ticked away the time. He chewed his lower lip so as not to make any noise, embarrassed that he couldn't handle what the rest of his brothers could. He almost wanted to cry.

Lost in their whispered conversation, Caleb and Pogue didn't notice Tyler slowly sink to his knees, his arms wrapped around himself.

Finally, after what seemed an eternity, Reid ran up to the others. "I'm sorry," he said quickly. He spotted Tyler, curled on the ground, whimpering. "Shit," he whispered.

Caleb and Pogue followed Reid's gaze, and Caleb sighed. "One minute until…"

"Is he okay?" Reid whispered. "Pogue wasn't like that. I wasn't like that."

Caleb said quietly, "It comes different for everyone. He'll be fine."

Reid didn't like that answer, and he slowly approached Tyler. "Hey," he said. "I'm sorry I wasn't here sooner, Ty."

Tyler merely nodded, afraid that if he opened his mouth to speak, he would scream, or cry.

Reid reached out and ran his hand over Tyler's dark hair. "It's okay. You're gonna be okay."

Caleb looked down at his watch and said, "Reid, get back." When Reid didn't move, Caleb grabbed the back of Reid's jacket and pulled him back, away from Tyler.

As thunder sounded above them, Caleb said quietly, "Stay back." Reid and Pogue nodded, though Reid looked upset.

Lightning crashed down, and Tyler's Ascent began. He could feel the Power entering him, slicing at his skin, his veins, like a thousand knives. He let out a loud cry and collapsed into the grass. The knives cut away at Tyler's insides, and they slowly became a burning sensation, as though Tyler's body was on fire.

From a few feet away, the other Sons of Ipswich watched in horror. They watched the tendrils and lightning-bolts of Power flow around Tyler's body, and Pogue whispered, "It wasn't like this for us, Caleb."

Caleb said, "I told you. Everyone is different." He looked a little concerned, but remained a few feet away, watching Tyler toss and turn, and listening to his cries.

After watching for another moment, Reid charged forward, unable to watch Tyler suffer for any longer.

"Reid, get away from him!" Caleb shouted, but Reid would not—could not—listen. "Reid! Get back!"

Reid's eyes changed to the black they held when he was Using. Using his Power, he slowly wove his way through the threads of Power streaming into Tyler. He made his way closer to Tyler and whispered, "Tyler. Ty, I'm here."

Tyler choked out, "Reid." His eyes were black, his hand outstretched towards Reid.

Reid glanced back at Pogue and Caleb. Caleb was screaming, "Get back!" at Reid, but Reid heard no noise from Caleb. All he could hear was Tyler, crying out in pain. Reid slowly knelt next to Tyler. "I'm here," he said, "Tyler." Tyler let out a scream, and Reid couldn't take it anymore. He threw his arms around Tyler, hugging him close.

When the Power finally stopped, and Tyler was fully Ascended, he collapsed into Reid's arms, crying weakly. Reid cradled Tyler in his arms, whispering, "It's over, Ty. It's all over."

Caleb and Pogue rushed to Reid and Tyler. "Shit, shit, shit," Pogue whispered. He knelt next to Reid. Caleb fell to the grass on the other side of Reid.

"Tyler," Caleb whispered. "Tyler, it's okay."

"It. Hurt," Tyler whispered fiercely.

"I know," Pogue said. He slowly reached out and touched Tyler's hair. "But it's gone now." He looked at Caleb.

"It's done. You never have to do that again," Caleb murmured. He ran his hand up and down Tyler's back, trying to calm him down.

"You did good, Baby," Reid whispered in Tyler's ear. Tyler's hand gripped at the front of Reid's shirt, just above Reid's heart. "So good. I'm proud of you."

"We're proud of you," Caleb said. "What do you want now? Sleep?"

Tyler sniffled and nodded.

"Okay. I'll give you a ride back," Caleb whispered. Reid helped Tyler up, and Caleb wrapped an arm around Tyler's shoulders. They slowly walked towards Caleb's Mustang, Caleb leading Tyler, and letting Tyler lean on him, more than anything else.

Pogue watched Caleb and Tyler as Caleb carefully buckled Tyler into the passenger seat of his car. "That wasn't good," Pogue murmured to Reid.

"No. That was scary," Reid said.

"Why did you go in? That was so dangerous, with all the Power around him, especially the way you Used to get in there."

"I couldn't watch him like that," Reid murmured. He wiped at some dirt smudged on his forehead. "Crying and sweating… tossing and turning. I thought he was dying. I thought it was going to kill him."

"You'd better get going. He won't want to be alone to go to sleep tonight." Pogue wrapped his arm around Reid's shoulders and gave a quick, one-armed hug. "He's okay. It'll never have to happen again."

"Thanks," Reid muttered, and watched Pogue pull on his motorcycle helmet. Pogue sped off into the foggy night.

Reid climbed into his car and quickly headed back to Spenser. His usual driving, speeding and taking dangerous choices, got him parked in the student parking lot just as Caleb parked his car outside of the dorm. Reid walked over to Caleb's car. He watched Caleb hug Tyler and drop a quick kiss on top of Tyler's head. Reid opened the passenger-side door and helped Tyler out of the vehicle.

"Thanks," Caleb said quietly.

"You want to crash here?" Reid offered. "It's late."

"I'm sleeping at Pogue's tonight," Caleb said, a wicked smile on his face.

"I don't need to hear anymore," Reid said firmly. "What the two of you do on your own time is not my business."

Tyler chuckled hoarsely against Reid's neck. He clung to Reid with all the strength he had left in his body.

"Night, Caleb," Reid said. He shut the car door, and helped Tyler into the dorm, Using to get them past security undetected.

Once they were safe in their dorm room, Reid placed Tyler on his bed. "You, uh, want to change into some sweats or something?"

"Yeah, bottom drawer," Tyler whispered.

Reid retrieved a pair of plaid pajama pants from Tyler's dresser. "Can you? I mean… by yourself?"

Tyler shrugged; even that small action pained him. Reid said nothing; he helped Tyler change, trading the jeans for the pajama bottoms. Tyler raised his arms, hissing. Reid tugged off Tyler's sweatshirt and then t-shirt. He removed Tyler's shoes and helped Tyler get under the bedcovers. Reid tucked the blankets in around Tyler.

"You did so well," Reid whispered. "I'm so proud of you."

"Bullshit," Tyler said. His voice was rough; he had screamed himself hoarse during his Ascent. "I cried."

"There's nothing wrong with that," Reid soothed. He stroked Tyler's hair. "It hurt. You couldn't even hold yourself up. How could you expect to hold in emotion then? It's not shameful."

"Still hurts," Tyler murmured.

Reid sat down on the edge of the bed. He kissed Tyler's forehead. Reid toed off his dirty sneakers and curled up next to Tyler.

"Sleep here?" Tyler asked.

"You never have to ask me. Just tell me," Reid whispered. He crawled beneath the blankets, cuddling against Tyler. "I'm proud of you, Baby Boy."

"Yeah?"

"Of course, dumb-ass," Reid muttered. Tyler snorted softly in reaction. Reid tucked his arms around Tyler's weak body. "Go to sleep," he whispered to Tyler. "You need it."

"Okay," Tyler murmured, not needing to be told twice. He closed his eyes and was asleep in minutes, his exhausted body finally getting the rest that it needed.

Reid kept Tyler close. He could feel Tyler's heartbeat, the muscle pumping rapidly as Tyler's body began to adjust to its newfound supply of power. Reid buried his face in Tyler's hair and whispered, "You scared me so bad, Tyler. Don't you ever do that to me again."

"Won't," Tyler whispered, half-asleep, his speech slurred. "I love you, Reid."

"I love you too, Baby Boy," Reid replied. He brushed his lips to Tyler's forehead and closed his eyes, intent on getting some sleep as well.


End file.
